The Atlanta Falcons will play their home opener against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday, 9/17. As exciting as that is on a normal year, this year will be that much more special as it will also mark the opening of their brand new $1.4 billion stadium, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The highlight of the new stadium is the pinwheel retractable roof, which opens in 8 minutes and looks like the opening scene of a James Bond movie. There were some scares that it would not be ready for the first game of the season, but Falcons’ officials have stated that the roof could open, weather permitting. An open roof would mark the first time the Falcons have played in an open air stadium at home since 1991, the last year they played in the Fulton County Stadium before moving to the Georgia Dome. The new stadium will not only host the Falcons, but will also host the Atlanta United of the MLS, the 2018 College Football National Championship, the 2019 Super Bowl and the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Other than the retractable roof, some of the key features of the Mercedes-Benz are:

A flexible capacity, which can hold up to 75,000 people for a football game or World Cup soccer match and up to 83,000 for a NCAA basketball game.

A floor to ceiling window on the northeast corner with a view to downtown Atlanta

A 360 degree HD video halo board which wraps around the top of the entire stadium. It will be 58 feet tall and span a total of 1100 linear feet in diameter, making it the largest video board in the world.

Demolition by implosion videos are always fun to watch. Adding an element of water makes them even more dramatic, though it’s probably not great for the ecosystem. Late last week, a one mile long, 23 year-old bridge in China was imploded in front of a crowd of spectators and caught on camera.

As the US is experiencing our own natural disaster, by way of Hurricane Florence, China is being hit badly by a Typhoon Mangkhut. According to Independent, the storm has caused a crane, which was being used on a 22-story housing development, to crumble. That collapse was caught on camera by neighbors.

It’s hard to believe that it has been 17 years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. I came to the realization this week that many of the men and women that are about to enter the workforce will never have a true understanding about how the country felt that day and how it responded. New York is still responding to this day and, even though the skyline will never quite be the same, there are new buildings in their place paying tribute to those who lost their lives that day.

Astronomy and the planets and solar systems within it, are a source of wonderment and awe for many people. Planetariums, which are educational facilities for the hands-on and interactive learning about astrology, can be found across the world. China is currently building a pretty spectacular planetarium in Shanghai, the country’s biggest city.

As America’s infrastructure is continually described as “crumbling,” I thought it would be a good time to take a look back to how highways were paved around 70 years ago. A lot has changed in the past seven decades, but you might be surprised by how similar paving still is.

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